The highs and lows of the Major qualification rollercoaster

The race for a spot at PGL Major Singapore went down to the wire, a plethora of squads across all regions scrapping for every single point possible right up to the invite cutoff.

Many rose to the occasion when the battle became most heated, putting together epic runs to clinch their place in Singapore and earn one of Counter-Strike’s most coveted invites, whilst others crashed and burned at the final hurdle, seeing their dreams shatter at the last moment.

Some of the most compelling narratives of the season played out right at the edge of the Major invite line, and with the season-ending spectacle of the Singapore Major fast approaching, it’s worth delving into the tales, whether they ended in elation or misery.

Tier-one misfits unite

In July of this year, Eternal Fire were 106th in the live Global VRS. The roster was in flux as the organization was attempting to navigate a path towards a successful international roster, having failed at their first go with a Polish-Turkish mix in 2025. The likes of Volodymyr “⁠Woro2k⁠” Veletniuk, Rigon “⁠rigoN⁠” Gashi and Sergiy “⁠DemQQ⁠” Demchenko had been cycled through in the quest to find the right constellation, and nothing had quite worked out.

The July edition of Eternal Fire’s regularly scheduled revamps had seen Vladyslav “⁠Kvem⁠” Korol and Alexander “⁠br0⁠” Bro brought in to complement the core of Gareth “⁠MisteM⁠” Ries, Iulian “⁠regali⁠” Harjău and Samet “⁠jottAAA⁠” Köklü, and whilst their initial event, European Pro League Series 8, returned a promising first-place finish, there was still something missing. Results took a tumble and br0 was removed in short order, with a casualty of Aurora’s own international pivot, Caner “⁠soulfly⁠” Kesici, arriving to take up the final roster slot.

The experience soulfly gained in Aurora served him well

Whilst it wasn’t fireworks from the get-go with soulfly amongst the team, as Eternal Fire struggled in a number of online qualifiers soon after his arrival, mid-way through September the engine started to fire up in earnest as Eternal Fire swept to victory at HyperX Retake Season 12. Having started the event at 71st in the Global VRS, suddenly 154 VRS points were deposited into Eternal Fire’s account and an unlikely last-minute dash for a Major berth was brewing.

Across five LAN events from September onwards, including HyperX, Eternal Fire would pick up three trophies and another second-place finish, racking up a 23-6 series record in the process. At one point every VRS simulation you could find put Eternal Fire’s chances of Major qualification somewhere between absolutely not and you’ve got to be kidding, and the only way they could put themselves in the conversation was to win stacked tier-two LAN events over the teams directly fighting them for a Major spot.

soulfly proved to be a revelation, the experience of his time with Aurora not having gone to waste as his aggressive presence shone on the T side. Kvem stood alongside soulfly as the other aggressive piece, allowing jottAAA and regali to take their time and find the trades and clutches, all of which was tied together by IGL MisteM. This disparate band of misfits, who couldn’t take advantage of various tier-one opportunities, have come together in a spectacular way, and now have the chance to show they truly belong at the top.

History repeats

Alliance were in a fantastic position for Major qualification after deep runs at XSE Pro League and FISSURE Playground 3, at one point sitting pretty at 15th in the live Global VRS mid-way through September. In their last attempt at Major qualification, Alliance suffered a heart-breaking fall at the final hurdle, losing a crucial game to M80 at DraculaN Season 6 and then watching every other result go against them, resulting in their absence from IEM Cologne Major. It seemed they had given themselves more than enough breathing room with the Singapore invite cutoff approaching.

What followed was a generational fumble. Alliance exited three of their remaining four LAN events in last place, picking up a single series win in nine matches, thus freefalling down the VRS and watching their Major dreams collapse again. During their disastrous run across the end of September and October, Alliance lost to pretty much every single close rival for a Major berth. SINNERS and Envy combined to send Alliance crashing out of 1win Private Club, Nemiga and fnatic dumped them out of Stake Ranked Episode 4, and FaZe and B8 put the final nail in the coffin at RLG Tesla Cup.

Alliance appeared shellshocked after their early RLG Tesla Cup exit

To some extent it seemed the CS gods had conspired against Alliance in their quest for a spot at IEM Cologne Major, but on this occasion the Swedes were the architects of their own downfall. It was not as if they did not have chances to pick up at least a few wins during their Major qualification run-in, repeatedly finding themselves falling just short on maps versus their closest rivals. Whether it was the pressure or just incredibly poor timing for a dreadful collapse of form, Alliance didn’t need other results to go against them to lose their chance at the Major this time around.

The return of a young warrior

After making a slew of roster changes over the course of September, Chinggis Warriors were miles off the pace in the quest for a Singapore Major spot. In the official September ranking their new roster was 22nd in the Asia VRS and about 500 points shy of the fifth-place team in the region, leaving them with a mountain to climb if they were to somehow squeak their way into Stage 1.

What’s more insane is that Chinggis Warriors didn’t start their climb proper until incredibly late, opening their ESN Fall Showdown campaign on September 30 with just over a month to go until the invite cutoff. Other teams had entire seasons to work their way towards a Major invite, whereas Chinggis Warriors began in a difficult position with the clock already running down, leaving themselves no room for error.

The Mongolian side went on an absolute tear, playing 18 series across four separate LAN events, winning 14 of them. This earned Chinggis Warriors three trophies and one second-place finish, behind Lynn Vision, to sweep past close rivals like 5star, The Huns and even TYLOO to steal away a spot in Singapore. A consistent force in the region, Tengis “⁠sk0R⁠” Batjargal, was one of the driving forces behind Chinggis Warriors’ incredible late run, but Zolbayar “⁠tikuak⁠” Chimedtseren was the star of the show.

tikuak returned from The MongolZ to lead Chinggis Warriors to the promised land

For a long time tikuak has been a rising star in Mongolia, beginning at The MongolZ academy before truly forging his name regionally with none other than Chinggis Warriors. Such was tikuak’s potential that The MongolZ came knocking when they were undergoing their roster revamp. Whilst it didn’t work out for the 17-year-old with The MongolZ, he returned to Chinggis Warriors to form the tip of the spear as they charged towards a Major berth, and through merit alone he has earned another chance to prove his worth on the biggest stage.

Lost at their own hands

Oh TYLOO, what have you done here? As a team from the Asia region who have spent the entirety of the year entrenched in the tier-one invite circle, it’s genuinely difficult to not qualify for the Major. Grab a win or two at tier one, supplement that with a run here and there in regional events, and you’ve got the Major spot locked up tight, especially considering the favourable position TYLOO began the season in. At the start of July, TYLOO were second in the Asia VRS and sported a nearly 400-point cushion in the qualification spots.

TYLOO even kicked off their season with a run to the playoffs of XSE Pro League, bagging them another 152 VRS points and making their qualification for the Singapore Major a virtual certainty. So how did they manage to squander their enviable position? By losing. A lot. Across Esports World Cup, FISSURE Playground 3, ESL Pro League S24 and PGL Masters Bucharest, TYLOO picked up two series wins, one over a GamerLegion side playing with a coach stand-in, and the other over an ailing 9z squad.

What is almost unforgivable is the fact that, despite their utterly horrid season in international LAN play, TYLOO had a chance to rescue themselves at the death with HyperX Retake Season 12. TYLOO should certainly have planned their season better and perhaps signed up for at least one or two other regional LAN events, but at least they had this one on the docket to avert disaster.

Instead of pouncing on the opportunity, as any other sane team would have, TYLOO opted to forfeit their playoff spot at HyperX and instead travel to China for IEM Beijing, thus throwing their Major berth away of their own volition. Of course, to rub salt in their own wounds they crashed out of IEM Beijing in the group stage anyway. Whilst one can conceive of reasons that TYLOO might highly value IEM Beijing attendance, it is genuinely difficult to stomach the idea that they would throw away a spot at the Major over it.

TYLOO will now have to watch the Major from the sidelines as they figure out how to pick themselves up after a poor season, all whilst knowing it’s entirely their own fault.

A new fragging IGL emerges

For Ninjas in Pyjamas, this Major qualification cycle really was a rollercoaster. At the start of the season they were in a good spot, sitting 20th in the Europe VRS with a healthy points total under their belt. Then their tier-one opportunities at BLAST Bounty and Esports World Cup didn’t go their way. The big call to swap Marco “⁠Snappi⁠” Pfeiffer for Karim “⁠Krimbo⁠” Moussa was made, but they immediately flopped a series of qualifiers in costly fashion and struggled at Logitech G Play Connect, seeing their Major chances plummet. At one point their odds of Major qualification were pegged at less than 5%, and it seemed a promising position had been wasted.

What followed was a soaring rise in Ninjas in Pyjamas’s fortunes on the server, as well as a clever management of their schedule off it, with Ninjas in Pyjamas not only finding the right events to attend, but also the right events to skip, such as DraculaN Season 7.

On the eve of 1win Private Club Season 1, Ninjas in Pyjamas needed absolutely everything to go right if they were to have any chance at all of making it to the Major. In spectacular fashion, they pulled it off. The European combine won three tier-two LAN events back-to-back, grabbing 17 wins across 18 matches, with their only loss coming in a BO1, and they thrived no matter the opposition. magic, Eternal Fire, HEROIC and MIBR all fell to the wayside as Ninjas in Pyjamas mounted their late charge, an impressive résumé of teams that will have Ninjas in Pyjamas thoroughly fancying their chances in Stage 1.

Krimbo’s addition had finally paid off in spades as the young German started to put up fragging IGL numbers, and the rest of the team took turns in carrying the load, with Kacper “⁠xKacpersky⁠” Gabara, Adam “⁠adamb⁠” Ångström and Martin “⁠stavn⁠” Lund all leading the scoreboards at various times. Veteran presence Rasmus “⁠sjuush⁠” Beck helped everything gel together, and suddenly a well-balanced Ninjas in Pyjamas side had emerged, one that showed the fortitude and incredible consistency required to snatch a Major berth after all had seemed lost.

The sniper’s redemption

Imperial’s run to the Major probably slipped through the cracks for plenty of CS enjoyers, at least those who are not tuned in to the Brazilian scene. Once the staging ground for the Last Dance, featuring Fernando “⁠fer⁠” Alvarenga, Gabriel “⁠FalleN⁠” Toledo and Ricardo “⁠boltz⁠” Prass, and later a regular fixture in tier-one events across 2023 and 2024, Imperial had slipped from their perch as one of Brazil’s best.

For some time the team struggled to find a roster that worked, and though they squeaked into both Majors in 2025 and even had a surprise run to Stage 3 in Budapest, they missed IEM Cologne Major after losing Santino “⁠try⁠” Rigal at the start of the year and lacking deep runs in regional events and qualifiers.

So what changed? How did Imperial reverse their fortunes across the second half of the season and come roaring back? Guilherme “⁠saadzin⁠” Pacheco.

Finding a replacement for try is no mean feat, and Imperial’s first stab in the form of Guilherme “⁠levi⁠” Gustavo had been a disaster. levi averaged a paltry 1.01 rating during his tenure and was not the right foil for the riflers Imperial had on the payroll, who are playmakers who like to make things happen during the round. saadzin had been a stable if unspectacular presence on Legacy, but he was certainly a class above what levi had been offering.

saadzin’s arrival in July was an unreserved success, as Imperial won their very first event, CCT South America Series 4, upon his arrival, and the improved results continued. Whilst there were hiccups, Imperial were back to making deep runs and even winning events again, their first LAN success coming at BetBoom Storm Season 4, a mere month after saadzin’s arrival. The AWPer was putting up impressive numbers, posting a 1.28 rating across the CCT tournament and a 1.25 on LAN at BetBoom Storm, fully justifying his signing and helping Imperial claw their way up the VRS.

With the run-in heating up coming into September, Imperial faltered. A loss to BESTIA, a direct rival for a Major berth, consigned them to fifth-eighth at Circuit X Curitiba Season 3, and their Major odds hovered around 10% in the wake of this disappointing finish. Perhaps not coincidentally it was saadzin’s worst LAN event since joining Imperial, and the result left them with a lot to do if they were to make it to Singapore.

So Imperial decided to do a lot. In their next four events Imperial picked up trophies at FERJEE In House Season 2 and Circuit X Curitiba Season 4, as well as a runner-up medal and third-place finish at Frag University and Gamers Club Masters respectively, which saw them sneak past the likes of BESTIA, paiN and NRG to snatch away a spot at PGL Major Singapore. saadzin was in immense form, posting a 1.23 rating or better in three of the four events, which included a masterful 1.40 carry performance at FERJEE In House, putting him atop the rating charts for the event.

Imperial are a side with a lot of raw talent in the form of Kaiky “⁠noway⁠” Santos and Lucas “⁠decenty⁠” Bacelar, led by the experienced head of Vinicius “⁠VINI⁠” Figueiredo, and complemented by an AWPer with a point to prove. saadzin was traded in when Legacy wanted to take the next step, and after rebuilding his confidence in his native Brazil, he can now head to the Major with a chance to show that Legacy made a mistake in seeking an upgrade.

From Stage 2 certs to the sidelines

At the start of the season B8 must have been on cloud nine, as a fantastic run through IEM Cologne Major had seen them make it all the way to Stage 3, which helped the Ukrainian side crack into the top 15 of the VRS. Despite some early season stumbles, which saw them exit XSE Pro League and Esports World Cup in the group stage and flop the BLAST Open Porto qualifier, a clean run through the IEM Beijing qualifier righted the ship. B8 had secured another tier-one invite, were in pole position to grab a spot at PGL Major Singapore, and even had a great chance of earning a direct berth for Stage 2.

B8 were in an incredible position, one that even teams towards the top end of tier two would kill for, and yet somehow managed to let it slip through their fingers with a poor couple of months. 1win and Nemiga proved too much for the Ukrainians in the PGL Masters Bucharest qualifier. Luminosity pipped them in the semi-finals of Logitech G Play Masters. Luminosity and fnatic sent them crashing out of Stake Ranked Episode 4 without a victory to their name.

A pattern was beginning to emerge, one where B8 were clearly a step behind the teams they were directly battling for a berth for PGL Major Singapore. Against these sides they couldn’t win their own map pick for love nor money, Danylo “⁠s1zzi⁠” Vinnyk’s form was not holding up, and whilst they were rarely getting blown out, they couldn’t get over the line in close maps. Everything came down to RLG Tesla Cup, where all they needed to do was secure a top-three finish to clinch a Major spot by the skin of their teeth.

B8 couldn’t get the job done. They scraped wins over K27 and Alliance, the latter in a horrid patch of form themselves, to secure a playoff berth, but HOTU and FaZe comfortably swept the Ukrainians aside to leave them to settle for fourth place and a spot on the sidelines come Major time. Despite an incredibly favourable starting point and numerous chances along the way, B8’s run of only managing two wins across eight important LAN series had scuppered their season.

B8’s CEO, Vladyslav “⁠arch⁠” Svistov, put it best, saying that going from a potential Stage 2 berth to not even qualifying “feels like a disaster.” He promised significant changes, and for a team where the majority of players have been on the squad for two years or more, it seems unlikely they will move forward without those significant changes.